On the 5-8 August nine ‘On Camp with Kelly’ athletes and their coaches travelled to Monte Gordo, Portugal, to participate in an Aviva funded educational trip to the holding camp where the Aviva GB & NI Team are preparing for the upcoming IAAF World Championships which take place in Berlin on the 15-23 August.
Charlotte Best, Tara Bird, Laura Finucane, Alison Leonard, Emma Pallant, Charlotte Purdue, Stacey Smith, Simon Horsfield and Ricky Stevenson were the athletes invited to take part in the camp. They were joined by Arthur Almond (coach to Alison), Steve Shaw (coach to Ricky) and Mick Woods (coach to Emma, Charlotte P, Stacey and Simon). Ayo Falola (coach to Tara), George Gandy (coach to Charlotte B) and John Nuttall (coach to Laura) attended part of the camp as they were already in Monte Gordo as team and/or personal coaches to athletes on the Aviva GB & NI Team.
The two full days that were spent in Monte Gordo were full of activity and devised to allow the athletes to experience a holding camp and get a better idea of how they would cope with having to prepare away from home for a major championship. According to their mentor Dame Kelly Holmes the camp “gave the athletes a really good education base, so when they do get into the GB senior team they are prepared and not a burden on the team and they are ready to do what they do best and perform.”
The morning of Thursday 6 August was spent at the Vila Real Sports Centre where the Aviva GB & NI Team are currently training. The OCWK athletes were briefed on what the two days would entail and then Kelly, OCWK project manager Emily Lewis and OCWK supervisors Lesley Bryant and Anthony Whiteman shared their experiences at different World Championships from the view of an athlete/team manager/media officer. The athletes were given the opportunity to ask questions before heading outside to be given a talk by UKA Head Coach Charles van Commenee.
Charlotte Best said: “I hadn’t had the opportunity to talk to Charles prior to this trip and it was really good to hear his views on the Great Britain athletes and his hopes for the future and 2012.”
Training was next on the agenda and the OCWK athletes took advantage of the excellent facilities as well as the 30-degree heat and completed some very good sessions on the track and in the gym.
After lunch the athletes headed to the beach where they spent time carrying out media duties. They were interviewed by various members of the press and photographed posing and running along the beach with Kelly.
Emma Pallant said: “I think that the media interest helps to promote the work that Kelly and Aviva are doing with ‘On Camp with Kelly’ and the goals that we, as athletes, are working towards. It is also good that we have to talk in front of a camera as it is practice and prepares us for potential interviews we will have to do in the future.”
Day two started with an early run for a few athletes, with Kelly accompanying them on the bike. After breakfast the athletes and coaches headed back to the Vila Real Sports Centre where the morning was spent listening to various members of UKA staff talk about their roles within the Aviva GB & NI Team. The athletes heard from Team Doctor Noel Pollock, Physiotherapist Alison Rose, Performance Programme Manager Simon Nathan, Media Officer Emma Pickles and Endurance Coach Ian Stewart.
Tara Bird said: “I found it interesting hearing about the different roles within UKA. I particularly enjoyed hearing from Simon Nathan as he briefly discussed selection policies and told us that the holding camp for the next years European Athletics Championships in Barcelona as well as the camp for the London 2012 Olympics will be held in the same venue, so we are very fortunate to have the opportunity to visit with OCWK. Those of us that make the team next year and in two years time will be very prepared for what awaits.”
OCWK athletes observed some of the training sessions that were taking place at the track before visiting the Aviva GB & NI Team hotel for lunch, a tour and an opportunity to chat with team members.
Simon Horsfield observed: “The resort was hugely luxurious, and I’m not sure how necessary that is, but I really liked the relaxed atmosphere that it created around the athletes, they seemed to be able to prepare well and were not stressed about the up coming competition.”
Laura Finucane added: “A hotel like this clearly has a lot of distractions and a lot of amazing food to eat! It shows how focused you need to be at a holding camp not to let things like that distract you or to eat too much. You can enjoy the facilities but stick to your normal routine as much as possible.”
Back at the Vila Real Sports Centre Kelly led a discussion on the positives and negatives of a holding camp and the athletes and coaches shared what they had gained from the trip. The late afternoon was spent training and having one-to-one catch ups with Kelly.
Stacey Smith said: “I had an in depth discussion with Kelly and my coach Mick Woods and we highlighted the positives and negatives of my season and now to improve that for next year.”
Everyone took a significant amount away from the camp. Charlotte Purdue said: “I have really liked this trip because it was very interesting to gather information about what a senior holding camp will be like in the future.”
Alison Leonard added: “This has been a great experience as we have been able to see the facilities and hopefully we will all come back in 2012.”
The trip to Monte Gordo was the first instalment of a two-part OCWK educational trip funded by Aviva and the nine athletes will be heading to the IAAF World Championships in Berlin on 19-22 August to watch the action in the stadium and take part in a behind the scenes tour.
Ricky Stevenson said: “It has been an amazing opportunity so far and I know everyone is so excited about going to Berlin, seeing the best athletes in the world compete will be so inspirational for us all.”
Tara Bird added: “It’as great to see how the Aviva GB & NI Team have prepared and next week we will get to see them compete, we have been give a very special opportunity.”
Report by Tara Bird
